Category Archives: FrankenFly

March 17, 2021 · 7:58 am

Whip Finish Wednesday with FrankenFly

Tonight at 9pm EST I will join John and Katie Demuth for their Whip Finish Wednesday show on Instagram. I will be tying with my Brain Dead Poppers and John will be tying along with me. To tune in, just be on Instagram and make sure you are following Demuth_FlyFishing. You can watch for their story to read “Live” at the top of Instagram and then click on it and you will be able to watch. Another option is to go to Demuth_FlyFishing on Instagram and click on their round profile image at the top left of their page. If it reads “Live” click on it and you can watch. The show usually last about 1 hour. We hope to see you there!

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February 7, 2021 · 9:29 am

Introducing Brain Dead Poppers

I am extremely excited to announce the release of my brand new product Brain Dead Poppers! This is a block style popper that will give you more pop and more splash to get the attention of those big bass. Not only can you use these as a popper but you can turn the head another way and use it as a slider. You can also turn it another way and it will become a diver. (Diver is tricky, please see website).

Brain Dead Poppers come in 4 colors right now. Black, Chartreuse, Yellow, and Orange. I am working on making them available in White and Olive in the near future. They are made from the best floating foam available, so they float as good or better than anything out there. I hand cut these poppers myself and I strive to make them a quality popper. You get 5 poppers per pack.

So please head over to the brand new website for Brain Dead Popppers. Be sure to check out the “How To” page for more information. I can’t wait to see what all of you awesome fly tyers out there do with these new poppers. I’m excited to see what creations you come up with!

I want to thank Jeff Kennedy for the outstanding logo. I want to thank Chris Doyal for his work on the professional website. Also Steve Yewchuck for his help with testing.

Brain Dead Poppers are created and designed by FrankenFly. Copyright 2020.

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March 23, 2020 · 12:54 pm

FrankenFly online store and a little more

Hello to all! I hope this finds you well and you are tying flies at home and letting this craziness pass as well as possible. I had several emails while show season was in effect about the FrankenFly online store. It is back on now and I really appreciate the interest. With the cancellation of the largest show I attend in Michigan this month, I posted several flies on Instagram for sale, but they are all sold now. Thank you to all that ordered recently! But please check out my online store and see if there are any flies you are interested in. There are a couple of orders I am tying right now, but I’m tying and doing business as usual. See below some of the flies I’ve been tying.

On another note I have been working on designing a new shad style articulated streamer. I am happy with the way it finally turned out. You can see a photo below. This fly uses Dead Meat Custom eyes and a head inspired by Mike Schmidt. It was not swimming like I envisioned at first, but I made some adjustments here and there that put the finishing touches on it.

shad pattern

I plan to keep posting here on FrankenFly, so if there is anything you would like to see more of, please comment and let me know. I want to thank all of you for reading FrankenFly! Stay safe out there!

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February 24, 2020 · 1:34 pm

FrankenFly News

Double Mini-Me Poppers

I thought I would write a brief update since we are nearing the end of fly tying season and gearing up for spring. I’ve received several emails about the FrankenFly online store being down. Last year, I decided I should turn it off during show season, because I can’t keep up with the fly orders and still get enough flies tied for shows. I will be turning it back on at the end of March.

It has been a busy winter for me. I worked as the Fishing Lead at the nearest Orvis store for several months, until J.Stockard Fly Fishing gave me more hours and I am now working for them much more. In-between I have done a couple of fly fishing shows and speaking of shows, the big one in Warren, Michigan is coming up in March. The dates are March 14th and 15th. I am honored to be invited back this year to be a guest tyer once again. You can visit https://midwestflyfishingexpo.com/ for more information. This is a terrific fly fishing show and if you want to attend a large, very nice show, this is the one to go to!

I have been tying flies for this show and making materials. I just finished a batch of Double Mini-Me Poppers. A popper fly I designed at the beginning of last season. See the photo above. I use two Rainy’s Mini-Me Poppers for the head of the fly, which provides its name. Werewolf Hair in the back along with some rubber legs, , coyote tail, and ostrich.

I picked up a beautiful, wonderful new net at the Cincinnati show from Chad Fath of CF River Products. He makes super high end nets and you should definitely check them out if you are in need of a new net. Head over to his website to check some of them out. If you need something custom, just contact him.

Please check back here at the website, because coming soon, I will be highlighting some fly tyers who I haven’t highlighted before, but have some skill in streamers and dry flies. I really appreciate all of you who continue to visit the website.

-Paul

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January 20, 2020 · 10:52 am

Heartland Fly Fishing Festival recap

I had a terrific time at the Heartland Fly Fishing Festival in Lebanon, Indiana over the weekend. The show had a really good turnout and we were able to talk fly fishing all weekend of course.

The highlight for me was getting a chance to talk to Chuck Kraft once again. Chuck is a legend of our sport and has designed many extremely effective flies. To name a few, the Kreelex, Clawdad, CK Baitfish, and many creative top water bugs.

Paul Beel and Chuck Kraft

Chuck also has his own signature rod produced by Reilly Rod Crafters. Check them out for some quality fly rods!

I had an enjoyable time talking to the many people that attended and was pleased to see many younger people interested in fly tying and fly fishing.

I spoke with many of the exhibitors as well. Such as the people from the Orvis store in Carmel, Indiana, Moving Waters Outfitters out of Zionsville, Indiana, and Kevin Feenstra from Feenstra Guide Service up in Michigan.

I had interesting conversations with Mangled Fly a new guiding service from Northern Michigan. Jon Ray and Ed McCoy were great to talk with and we may have some plans to work together a bit. Jon had some Eli Berant streamer patterns tied up using my Werewolf Hair, which was really cool!

I also spoke with Tony who owns Semper Fly Rods
 and specializes in his own line of rods, plus custom fly rod builds.

I spent some time at the casting pond with certified instructor and friend of mine, Don Pendleton. Don is the person who taught me how to cast. We were practicing some 60 foot roll casts trying to hit a hoop at the end of the pond. We had some interesting conversations regarding Joan Wulff and Mel Krieger. Two fly casters you should look into if you want to improve your fly casting.

Three good fly tying friends were at the show and I spent a lot of time chatting and having fun with them. John and Katie Demuth of Demuth Fly Fishing and Joe Jackson Sgt. Bassfisher.

Speaking of friends, my buddy Eric Corya, who you might know as @CarpStalker1 on Instagram stopped by and we chatted for awhile. We are both ready to hunt some carp this year. Hopefully I will have plenty of photos to post of Eric and I catching some carp on the fly!

There were many demos and speakers during the show and I highly recommend this fly fishing show to anyone who is interested in our sport. Next up, a show in Cincinnati!

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Filed under Fly fishing show, Fly Rods, FrankenFly, Michigan, Streamers, Werewolf Hair

October 10, 2019 · 11:46 am

FrankenFly Scissors now available!

I have 5 pairs of FrankenFly Scissors available now on the FrankenFly Online Shop. They are 4 inch razor scissors with one serrated blade for improved cutting and you can adjust them with the red knob. I have used these same type of scissors for years and they are top of the line. They are extremely sharp and have fine points for tight cutting. The scissors are made by Deer Creek.

So get’em while their hot!

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September 25, 2019 · 8:37 am

Werewolf Minnow – Svend Diesel

Svend Diesel has now dived into my Werewolf Hair and came up with a cool minnow! Check out what he had to say below and watch the video. Werewolf Hair is a half synthetic and half natural. The synthetic is a little like SF Fibers only not as stiff. You can read more about it by clicking the link at the top.
-Paul

From Svend Diesel:
“Less is more when tying with WereWolf Hair. The first few patterns I tied using it, I felt like I needed large clumps to get the profile so when it got wet, it looked like a tasty treat to any trout or bass. I quickly discovered that when adding more material, it was unnecessary and almost a waste of such an awesome material that doesn’t require the huge clumps.

Small clumps are crucial and still provide the profile that one desires, even when wet. I have tested them in the bathtub to see how they look and run under the pressure of a faucet to see how it would react and its unreal. The real benefit is upon one shake, it seems like almost all water is gone. This material will be ideal for casting a thousand casts for that Muskie or long days of tossing streamers at trout.

The materials come in lots of colors so tie some up in your favorite color combinations. I definitely have confidence in contrasting head colors of black, white and silver minnow bodies and hot color heads.”

The Recipe:
Hook: #Ahrexhooks TP610 2/0
Thread: #Semperfli nano silk 3/0
Body: #jstockard Werewolf Hair and #whitingfarms american hackle
Eyes: #spawnflyfish eyes
Resin: thick and #semperfli no tack UV

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September 18, 2019 · 8:23 am

The Vampire Rainbow Minnow – Svend Diesel

If you were wanting to get a good look at my new Vampire Sheep Hair, here is a brand new fly tying video from Svend Diesel with the primary material being just that! See below to read what Erik had to say about it and the video.
-Paul

From Erik Svendsen
“I got a new product from J. Stockard Fly Fishing called Vampire Sheep Hair. This is a product made by FrankenFly and I have been excited to try it ever since I heard about it. I really like the blend ratio of flash to natural materials and it forms a pretty good minnow head. The colors that I bought seem very well thought out to patterns that I already tie so naturally why not make a rainbow looking minnow.

I tried to use as much natural material to flash ratio as possible. For the tail and profile I used the Whiting Farms American Hackle and for smaller patterns they have recently released a freshwater hackle series that would be perfect for some sizes 2-6. The Grizzly is a go to for me to imitate the speckled body of white to black ratio.

The color combinations are endless and the ability to create a perfect minnow pattern for your local waters are very achievable. Tie some up and have some fun fishing them. This is an unweighted fly, so I would recommend fishing with a sinking tip or full sink line. ”

The Recipe:
Hook: #Ahrexhooks TP615 in a size 1/0
Thread: #Semperfli waxed thread 8/0
Tail and body: #whitingfarms American Hackle grizzly with Krystal flash
Head: #FrankenFly Vampire Sheep Hair Eyes: 3/8
Eyes secured with Liquid Fusion and Semperfli no tack uv

Svend Diesel

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